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Avoid EDSA Balintawak Traffic, Take Mindanao Avenue Exit to NLEX

For those looking for alternate route to NLEX to avoid the usual heavy traffic on EDSA Balintawak leading to NLEX, you can take the (quite) newly-opened Mindanao exit of NLEX that leads in/out of Baesa and Novaliches, Quirino Highway in Quezon City

To take the faster, alternate route to NLEX from Makati, you can get there from EDSA via Quezon Avenue, left to Aghan Road, left to North Avenue then right to Mindanao Avenue. Drive all the way to Quirino Highway then take the tunnel that leads to NLEX Mindanao avenue exit.

A faster route but less easier to remember is actually via NIA road, the first road after going down EDSA Kamuning viaduct (corner is K Zone under construction), left to BIR Road, cross Quezon Avenue to Agham Road, left to North Avenue (near Veterans Memorial Hospital) then right to Mindanao Avenue (where you'll see Trinoma mall). Still alternate routes are via Tandang Sora, Visayas Avenue (via Quezon Circle) or Congressional Avenue.

Here's an Interactive map of NLEX Mindanao Avenue with EDSA and Quezon Memorial Circle in the frame for your reference (map brought to you by OpenStreet Map folks):

This new route can also get you to Valenzuela faster by taking NLEX Mindanao Avenue exit, NLEX northbound, next take Valenzuela exit, left to Maysan Road leads to MacArthur Highway in Maysan, Karuhatan and Malinta, Valenzuela (think SM City Valenzuela too). This alternate route bypasses traffic of EDSA Monumento and MacArthur highway thus effectively reducing travel time to the northernmost city of Metro Manila.

The next phase of the Mindanao Avenue clover leaf will add a new way to North Harbor on Radial Road, Tondo, Manila.